Two Days Worth of Randomness

I didn't post yesterday. I did take some pictures, but spent most of my time working on my U.F.O. (If you are totally confused, see this post). I got a whole square done! Four down, eight more to go!

We pack up and head home today. It is always sad to have a nice relaxing time come to an end. I try to avoid re-entry to real life for as long as possible. This time around I have downloaded an audio book to my mp3 player, so I can stay in vacation mode the whole drive home. I know it won't change the fact that we have lunches to pack, a presentation to work on, baths and Little One's hair to do when we get home, but there's no use wasting a full three hours thinking about it when I can be living in Highbury with the Woodhouses instead.

Since we'll be digging out the room the three kids share here at my parents' house, packing up, and driving home for much of our time today, I figured I'd go ahead and do a joint post covering random things from the past 24 hours.

My parents have a window that is close to the size of a football field in the west wall of their living room. The afternoon sun shines through there quite beautifully, except when you are trying to watch something on HGTV, then the sun just makes it really hard to see all those clever design ideas. So, since the light was shining nicely on the piece of furniture I can't think of a name for and not so nicely on the TV that was providing background noise for my quilting, I paused my stitching and started arranging things in the sunlight- Sunday, February 19.

I added my wedding ring to this picture because I had just read a post from my camera twin friend about how she almost got kicked out of photo club. 'Oh yes, I see the logical connection,' you say. Well, it is a long story, but nutshell version, she ended up taking some cool pictures of her wedding ring at the prompting of her photo club friends in order to replace some prior pictures she had taken of her wedding ring that they declared to be less than cool. Since my camera twin is urging me to join photo club once My Husband's busy work season ends, I figured I ought to jump in on the fun from a distance, while I can still post pictures under the radar- Sunday, February 19.

This is a picture of my favorite manger scene in the whole wide world. At this time of year it is usually tucked away with the other Christmas decorations in a worn cardboard box labeled PUTZ . For those of you who are not Pennsylvania Dutch, you may wonder at such a label. But it apparently means manger scene in Pennsylvania Dutch, which isn't really Dutch at all, but a dialect of German spoken by immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania. I used to be so confused about my heritage. I thought I was Dutch because I grew up hearing I was Pennsylvania Dutch. Silly me! I am not actually sure what country I thought I was from, Dutchland I guess, but then I heard that I was from Germany and people who are actually Dutch are from Holland, and I decided then and there to give up on World Geography for the rest of my life. Anyway, back to the Putz. The light was so great coming in the giant window that I decided to pull this out to take some pictures. I have tender memories of years of fighting with my brother over who got to set up the manger scene. When it was decided, through arm wrestling, loudest shouting, or a mandate from mom and dad, that I could have the honors, I would take hours carefully placing the characters in the stable. My two favorites are the shepherd with the lamb over his shoulders and Mary. I was always sure to put the shepherd close to Baby Jesus. I didn't think it fair that the Kings got all the good spots. Well, by the time I got everybody tucked into the barn this time around, the sun had settled a little too low for my liking, and my usual favorite, Mary, kept casting an annoying shadow on the kneeling Wise Man. I wasn't thrilled with any of the pictures I got, but getting to set up the manger scene was a fun treat, though not nearly as rewarding as having won the right in some sort of 'loving' Christmas contest with my brother- Sunday, February 20.

 This hand belongs to my Grandma Lucy. She turned 97 this past September. My original plan had been to take a really great picture of her and write a touching post about her life and how much I love her, but she fell asleep while we were visiting and so the only really good pictures I got of her are while she was napping. While they are sweet, I didn't think they did her amazing life justice. So, I'll postpone the blog tribute for another time. In the mean time I'll simply say this hand is one of the strongest, most beautiful hands I have ever seen- Sunday, February 19.

The kids with their Great Grandma Lucy- Sunday, February 19.

 I randomly started taking pictures of the kids at breakfast today. The Oldest promised he would keep his hand over his face until I put my camera in its bag. Never one to back down from a challenge, I set the camera directly on him. It was like a staring contest, both of us determined not to blink, but I finally caved and took the picture as is- Monday, February 20.

Little One trying to get the last of her breakfast Fwuffer Nutter- Monday, February 20.

First Grader, who usually packs clothing that would last if we decided to take a spontaneous trip around the world, forgot to pack pajamas for our weekend trip. I found this nightshirt on the clearance rack at the local K-Mart. She has worn it since, except for the few hours we spent at church. And even then she had a list of 101 reasons why she should wear it there. Smart and Cute, that's for sure- Monday, February 20.